Chapter 30: Hamilton Corner

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Hamilton Corner

With 42 laps left in the race, Hamilton entered the pit lane.

"What tires is he going to switch to?!"

Wu Shi was excited. Nobody else on the track had made a move yet, but the racing line was already mostly dry. Running on wet tires would cause them to overheat easily.

The car pulled in, but the mechanics didn’t move to change the tires. Instead, they grabbed a hose and stuck it into the top of the car’s sidepod...

"Holy shit, they’re refueling!"

Seeing this, Wu Shi exclaimed that he’d never seen anything like it.

By the time he was involved in F1, refueling had been banned for ages. This rare sight was fascinating to him.

"They’ve issued a typhoon warning," Wu Zhenlin said, pulling out his phone.

"Typhoon Rosa?" Wu Shi asked.

Before coming to Shanghai, he’d heard a typhoon was on its way. It had almost delayed his flight.

As they were talking, an all-red F1 car entered the pit lane. It was Massa.

Based on what happened before, Wu Shi guessed he was also coming in to refuel.

With the gloomy sky, no team dared to switch to dry tires.

’If I were making the call, I’d definitely try switching to dry tires to set a fast lap. Since they’re already in for fuel, why not give it a shot?’

With Hamilton and Massa pitting for fuel, the dynamic of the race on the track shifted.

The pack at the rear was in a chaotic battle, all while having to be ready to let the leaders pass as they were lapped.

This struggle didn’t last long, and the field soon sorted itself out. Meanwhile, cars continued to enter the pits for fuel, but still, no one changed their tires.

"It’s rare to see F1 cars weaving side-to-side while speeding down the Great Straight."

Wu Shi commented. This was a sight you only saw when cars were on wet tires on a half-dry track. Visually, it was far more interesting than watching them stick to the racing line lap after lap.

Especially when a car drove over a patch of water, kicking up a spray of mist—that was when you could truly feel its speed and power.

"Is it going to rain again?" Louise asked.

"The weather forecast says it will," Wu Zhenlin said, checking his phone.

"Can’t trust that," Wu Shi shook his head. "Weather forecasts are rarely accurate."

With 33 laps remaining, a Red Bull pitted and switched to dry tires.

"They should have switched to dry tires ages ago! You gain a few seconds per lap, you’d make the time back easily," Wu Shi commented.

"But there’s still standing water in the corners," Louise said.

"The racing line is already dry. You’d only hit the water in the corners if you were trying to overtake." As soon as Wu Shi finished speaking, data appeared on the big screen. He pointed at it and said, "There’s the fastest lap! Set on soft dry tires!"

"So will they get faster and faster from now on?"

"Of course."

As the track conditions improved, the advantage of dry tires would only grow.

While they were chatting, a BMW entered the pits to change tires.

Wu Shi looked around. From the grandstand on the straight, he could get a good look at every F1 car that passed.

Teams like TOYOTA, HONDA, BMW Sauber, and Spyker would all gradually withdraw from F1 in the following years. To see them all competing together was, one had to admit, a truly historic occasion.

Before three laps were up, a light rain began to fall from the sky.

A short while later, the big screen showed a shot that seemed to be from Hamilton’s point of view. You could see raindrops continuously hitting the camera lens.

"Oh no, aren’t those few cars in front totally screwed?" Louise shook her head.

"Haha, yep." Wu Shi laughed. This is what it’s like to battle against the heavens; the unknown variables always make things more interesting.

"Are a lot of cars starting to slide?" Wu Zhenlin asked, looking towards the corners on either side.

Even the cars that hadn’t switched to dry tires had excessively worn wet tires, which could no longer disperse water effectively, making them slide more easily.

"Yes..."

Wu Shi had just started to speak when he saw a car slide off the track and—BAM!—hit the barrier. Luckily, it wasn’t going fast and only damaged its rear wing.

Meanwhile, on another part of the track, Kimi had caught up to Hamilton.

"He’s sliding!"

Xiaohan’s set of wet tires were almost bald. They couldn’t hold on, and he started to slide as he entered the corner.

Just when you thought Kimi was about to overtake him, Kimi himself slid while exiting the corner.

"Both their tires are gone!"

"This is too dangerous," Wu Zhenlin said again.

"Dad, look, the Red Bull over there."

"I see it."

"This is an extreme sport," Wu Shi said.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!!"

Suddenly a roar went up from the crowd. Hamilton and Kimi were coming through the final corner at the same time.

"Is he going to make a move?"

"No, he’s still a bit too far back."

The McLaren and Ferrari in first and second place were locked in a chase. Even as they passed the straight, many people were still watching them on the big screen.

"He passed him!"

"Incredible!"

Wu Shi sighed with emotion. The wheel-to-wheel battles of the older generation of drivers were truly a sight to behold.

He could feel his blood boiling, his hands itching with the urge to get down there and drive himself.

"Why isn’t he going back to change his tires?"

Louise had excellent eyesight. She could see that Hamilton’s rear tires were in a wretched state.

"I don’t know."

On lap 31 of the race, Hamilton finally headed into the pits to change tires.

Wu Shi subconsciously focused his attention.

"Whoa! He’s sliding! He can’t make the turn! Ah! He’s gone off the track!"

Louise let out a string of gasps, her hand flying to her mouth in disbelief.

"He’s stuck." Wu Shi clenched his fists. Trapped and unable to move in the gravel trap, Hamilton was out of the race.

"The Hamilton Corner," he muttered. ’History seemed a little different, but it still ended up at the same point.’

"Hamilton Corner? I think it should be called the ’Except-for-Hamilton Corner’!" a fan nearby shouted.

"What a pity!!" the fans cried out in dismay.

The next lap, Kimi pitted and happened to see the crane arriving to lift Hamilton’s car away.

’Too bad I don’t have a camera, or I’d take a picture of this "world-famous painting."’

For the rest of the race, it was pretty much a battle between Massa and Alonso.

Perhaps because the scene he most wanted to see had already happened, Wu Shi suddenly found it all dull. After all, compared to watching, he’d much rather be driving himself.

’How could someone outside the track ever truly experience the thrill of that life-or-death speed?’

"Is that a BMW? Is it retiring too?" Louise saw a BMW Sauber drive onto the grass and slowly coast to a stop. She couldn’t help but shake her head, feeling it was a shame.

"Mommy, why do you tell me not to step on the grass, but that car gets to drive all over it?" a childish voice piped up.

"Pfft—"

Wu Shi couldn’t hold back his laughter when he heard that. ’I wonder if Kubica, sitting in that BMW, would smash his steering wheel if he heard it.’

’My car has a problem, so I pull onto the grass to retire. You don’t ask what’s wrong with the BMW’s gearbox, but instead you ask me why I’m driving on the lawn?’

"What are you laughing at?" Louise asked curiously.

Wu Shi repeated what the child had said, adding that back home, there were signs everywhere prohibiting people from stepping on the grass, with poetic phrases like "The little grass is dear, please tread with care," or "One less footprint, one more sweet scent."

"That’s so strange," Louise said, scratching her head.

"What is?"

"Aren’t lawns meant to be stepped on?" Louise said.

"It’s different."

Wu Shi shook his head. ’There are just too many people back home. If you let everyone walk on the grass in parks and green spaces, it would all be destroyed in no time.’

DRING DRING DRING~

Just then, Wu Zhenlin’s phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Oh, okay, I’ll ask him."

Wu Shi looked at his dad. ’What’s going on?’

"That was Reporter Zhi. They got credentials to enter the pits and were wondering if you’re interested. They said they could write a story about it," Wu Zhenlin said.

"I’ll go!" Wu Shi nodded.

"I want to go too!" Louise hadn’t understood what Uncle Wu said, but if Wu Shi was going, she wanted to go with him.